Authors Note—Hey everyone I just wanted to apologize for the long wait on this chapter. And I also wanted to let you all know that since I am a college student and working two jobs that I won't be able to respond personally to all of your awesome reviews that you guys leave for me. I don't want to offend anyone so this is just a heads up. But I will thank you all either at the beginning or end of my chapters. So without further ado here is the next chapter in this story and I hope you all enjoy it. :D

Disclaimer—I do not own

Chapter 4

Understanding

Ducky arrived at the hospital only minutes after the ambulance. He quickly made his way into the ER. Doing a very good impression of Gibbs as he demanded to be given all the information on his patient, and to be allowed back in the examination room with him.

The poor nurse never new what hit her, as she gaped at the older man, who appeared so gentle and yet was issuing commands and demands like he was an Admiral in the military. She spluttered and stuttered as she quickly acquiesced to his demands. And with in minutes she was showing the older man back to the exam room. Once in the room Ducky could see that Tony was awake now and that he was confused. Ducky quickly went to the head of the exam table were there was less staff and started talking soothingly to Tony.

Tony looked around bewilderedly trying to figure out just exactly were he was. Something felt very wrong; he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest, his eyes wouldn't focus, he couldn't get his brain to comprehend what was going on around him, and his breathing was also too fast, he didn't feel like he should be this panicked, and his hearing was also very muffled. He looked out the observation window of the room and his heart felt as if it had stopped. He shook his head trying to understand and make sure he wasn't seeing things because, he had to be seeing things there was just no way he was seeing what he was seeing, he knew it was a hallucination, he really did know it wasn't real; it couldn't be real, but also just like in his dream he knew he had to at least try and reach them, reach her.

His hallucination smiled her sweet sad smile at him and then waved at him just like in his dreams. She then blew him a kiss goodbye and walked away.

Forgetting where he was and oblivious to what was happening around him he used all of his energy and pulled himself up and with an out stretched arm he reached out for her and weakly called out, "Shay!" To his dismay his beautiful hallucination turned and walked away. Tony felt his heart stop again as grief and despair enveloped him. He quickly made up his mind that he wasn't going to let her get away again. This time he was going to follow her. He managed to slide off the table landing hard on his side, but he never felt a thing.

He never felt the several sets of hands on him holding him back, preventing him from moving to far. All he was reregistering was a sudden weight preventing him from moving as he wildly looked around, calling out frantically, "Shay! Please come back! I'm sorry! God I'm so sorry! Please don't leave me! Come back! Come back!"

He never felt the needle that pierced his skin; he never felt them intubate him after he went into respiratory distress, he never felt them fix his dislocated shoulder, or any of his other injuries as he blissfully allowed himself to sink down into the darkness.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Twenty-Four Hours Later;

Tony tried to pry his eyes open but it was like some one had supper glued them shut. He fought a little harder to make his body function but after a minute he gave up. He knew what the problem was. They had sedated him; it was always like this when they sedated him. He only had use of some of his senses; he could hear, and feel, and smell. He stopped fighting his body and began to listen in to what was going on around him. He could smell coffee and sawdust so that meant that Gibbs was there. He could smell Ducky's unique cologne that he liked to wear. So that meant that Gibbs and Ducky were both in the room probably talking about him. He concentrated on what he was hearing; trying to catch what it was they were saying.

"How much longer Ducky?"

"Jethro you know I cannot give you an exact time on these kinds of things. Anthony will awaken as soon as his body is ready for it to and not a minute sooner."

"They stopped the sedation yesterday Ducky don't you think it's taking a little long for him to come out of it?"

"As I said before we all respond differently to sedation and as you well know Anthony is particularly sensitive to these kinds of medication. Plus with everything that he has been through in the last month I wouldn't be surprised if this was his body's way of copping and healing."

Tony didn't like the sound of what Ducky was saying. He thought to himself, 'Am I really hiding out in my own head?' he decided right then that if that was what he was doing then he had done enough of it and that it was time to come back to the real world and get back to work. With that decision made Tony focused all of his energy into opening his eyes. It seemed to take an extraordinarily long time but eventually he succeeded. He blinked several times against the harsh light of the fluorescents. He turned his head to the side and opened his mouth to call out to his friends, but found that his mouth was drier than cotton. He swallowed and then hoarsely called out, "Any chance I can get out of here today?"

Both men looked at him in surprise and then were instantly by his side. Helping him to sit up and giving him a drink of water. Tony drank as much as they would allow him to have and after a minute of trying to catch his breath he said, "I'm serious. I want out of here."

"Doc's say that as soon as you wake up and eat a little you can be discharged. Apparently your injuries aren't life threatening enough to force you to stay." Replied Gibbs with a small lopsided smile.

Tony sighed in mock annoyance saying, "I've gotta stay that long huh? Oh well bring on the food! I could eat a horse." He lied; actually he didn't think his stomach could handle more than a few bites of anything at the moment but if it got him out of the hospital sooner he was more than ready to force it down and pay the consequences later when he was alone.

Ducky shook his head, he knew exactly what his young friend was doing and he was not going to give him any false hopes, "Do not think that I am that easily fooled Anthony. I will be watching your health very carefully, and just because you are being released from the hospital does not mean that you can just jump back into work like nothing has happened. A condition of your release is that I will be overseeing your health care. So that means you will need plenty of rest and no exerting yourself."

"Aw come on Ducky." Whined Tony, "That's not fair. I can help and still take it easy. Seriously it's not very stressful for me to sit at a desk and type."

Ducky starred impassively at Tony for a few minutes before saying, "I will take that into consideration. You should count yourself very lucky young man that your shoulder is not in a sling right now."

Tony nodded happy enough with a maybe and though he didn't say anything about it he was quite glad that he had full use of his shoulder even though it was still a bit tender. He was just settling back into the mattress when, Brad, Dr. Cranston, his doctor from the ER and Vance all came into his room. Tony groaned and pulled the blanket up over his head when they all stopped at the end of his bed. Brad just shook his head and with a smile said, "I only need to draw some blood and listen to your lungs Tony and then I will leave you alone I promise."

Tony just groaned again and extended an arm from under the blanket. Brad laughed and walking up to his patient said, "You're gonna have to move the blanket. I can't listen to your lungs through it."

Tony threw the blanket back with a huff and scowled playfully at his friend. And then asked, "Couldn't this have waited until later? I mean I am coming in for my yearly next week."

Brad exchanged a look with Gibbs while he was listening to his patients' chest before he straightened up saying, "Well I figured that we might as well do it while you're already being held prisoner here."

Tony had seen the look that Brad and Gibbs had exchanged and suspiciously asked, "What's going on?"

Gibbs sighed and looking at the director said, "Well Vance here's your chance."

Vance scowled at Gibbs as he said, "Yes well agent DiNozzo I am supposed to tell you that from here on out you are under protective custody. You will have an agent with you at all times and you will be relegated to the Navy Yard until all of this is resolved. Your team will be serving as your protection detail."

Tony sat there stunned into silence. He couldn't make his mouth produce all the words that his mind was forming. Finally after a few minutes of just sitting there the only word that would come out of his mouth was, "No."

It wasn't even strong or forceful, just "No". Vance looked shocked for a few seconds before he said, "Excuse me?"

Tony looked the director in the eye and said, "No." this time with more force, "It's too dangerous. What if he comes after me again?"

Vance looked confused as he said, "That would be why you have a protection detail, so that if he does come after you again we will be able to stop him."

Tony shook his head saying, "But what if one of my team gets hurt? I don't want that kind of responsibility Director."

Vance sighed, now he knew why Gibbs insisted that he tell DiNozzo. The man wasn't going to give in easily. Taking a deep breath Vance switched into director mode and said, "Agent DiNozzo this is not up for discussion. I have ordered it and your team volunteered for the duty stating that you would respond better to having them there. And I suggest you thank your team because if it weren't for them talking me out of it, you would be on your way to a safe house right now on lock down. So I expect you to allow your team to do as they have been instructed and I do not want to hear about how you are giving them a hard time. Understood?"

Tony was distinctly not happy about it but muttered a yes sir any ways. Vance nodded and said to the room in general, "Good I need to get back I will see you all later."

With that he turned and walked out of the room. Gibbs had watched Tony's reactions throughout the whole thing and was mildly satisfied with the level of cooperation that was exuding from DiNozzo. He also noticed the apprehension that was coming off of him in large waves as he eyed the needle that Brad was preparing to draw blood with. Gibbs held onto Tony's shoulder while they waited and finally Brad turned towards them and said, "Ok now I need to draw a arterial blood gas, and then I will draw some regular labs also."

Tony instinctively held his arm closer to his chest, away from the menacing needle and asked anxiously, "Is that first one really necessary? We don't usually do that one."

Brad sighed heavily, he knew that it wasn't going to go over well; his patient was one of the most stubborn men that he had ever seen. Taking a deep breath he looked Tony directly in the eye and said, "Yes."

"Yes? That's all your going to say?"

"Yes."

Brad could see that Tony was getting frustrated and taking pity on his friend said, "Look. I know you don't like these and I don't blame you, but I have never done anything that wasn't necessary, right?"

Tony nodded slowly and Brad smiled and said, "Good now I am only drawing this because I noticed some congestion in your lower left lung so I am just covering all of my bases. Ok?"

After a minute of indecision Tony nodded and reluctantly held out his arm. He turned his face away and closed his eyes tight. He didn't care that he didn't look particularly macho or in control right at that moment. He just wanted to get this done and over with.

After what seemed like forever to Tony, Brad finally said, "There! All done."

Tony looked down at his wrist and scowled a little when he saw the nice bruise already starting to form. Brad just shook his head and began talking, "I'm going to be putting you on an antibiotic because of the congestion Tony and I want you to promise me that if it gets any worse you will not try and hide it."

Tony rolled his eyes saying, "It's not like I could hide it for very long anyways, not with Gibbs, Ducky and the whole damn building watching me."

He knew that he sounded like a petulant child but Tony found he was having a problem caring about it. He was pissed and he didn't care who knew about it. He just wanted out of the hospital, and he wanted to go back to work, and he just wanted to be left alone, no questions, no sympathetic looks, no poking, and no prodding. But it was looking less and less likely that, that was going to happen.

Tony was brought out of his musings when Gibbs gave him a very light head slap. He looked up at his boss and saw the understanding there in his eyes. Tony sighed heavily; he knew he could count on Gibbs if things got too hard for him to handle. He turned his attention back to the group of doctors that were all standing around him. He noticed that they were all looking at him expectantly. He moved himself into a better sitting position and said, "Sorry what was that?"

Brad just sighed and said, "I was just saying that I am hesitant to release you so soon . . ."

"Oh no, no, no!" Cried Tony, "I am not staying here any longer than is absolutely necessary!"

"I know that Tony," replied Brad with a little hint of impatience, "What I was going to finish saying was, I had my concerns but Ducky here said that he will keep an extra eye on it and alert me the minute anything becomes suspicious."

"Oh ok." Replied Tony as he visibly relaxed back against the bed. Brad just shook his head and looking at Gibbs and Ducky said, "I have to go, but I will call sometime in the next few days and arrange for him to come to me or for me to come to him. Either way I want to give him a checkup."

Both men agreed that, that would be fine and Brad left with a warning to Tony to behave himself.

Next was the doctor from the ER who introduced himself as Dr. Quinton. He was a giant of a man with a very meek manner. But Tony could tell that under that unassuming air was a will of steel. He figured that it would be best for all if he didn't try and fight this one. Though much to Tony's dismay Dr. Quinton was very thorough and insisted on doing a complete exam. Since the doctor was so thorough and careful the exam ended up taking almost an hour. This annoyed Tony, who only wanted to go home and be left alone, and led him to decide that once Dr. Quinton left, he was not staying put any longer. And he sure as hell wasn't going to be talking about anything with Dr. Cranston. Not that he had anything against her, but he wasn't going to spill his guts to her either. He had had plenty of that to last him for the rest of his life. So he waited patiently and as soon as the doctor announced he would be all right to leave Tony threw his legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he sat up saying, "Thanks Doc . . ."

"Not so fast Agent DiNozzo, "Called Dr. Cranston, "I haven't had my turn with you yet."

Tony smiled and said, "Sorry Rachel but I am not in the mood to have my head shrunk."

Gibbs put his hand on Tony's shoulder and said, "You don't have a choice DiNozzo."

"But Boss!" Whined Tony, "That's not fair! I don't need to talk I'm fine!"

Gibbs just gave Tony one of his patented glares, and Tony being stubborn and desperate, ignored him and turned his attention to Ducky and Dr. Quinton for support. Ducky shook his head and said, "It is a condition of your release Anthony."

"That's right Agent DiNozzo," Supplied Dr. Quinton, "Any patient who experiences a psychotic episode must meet with one of the psychologist here on staff. You just happened to be lucky and got Dr. Cranston, which your friends here assure me is the best person for you as she has already worked with you before and knows all of your tricks."

Tony sighed and admitted defeat by throwing himself back on the bed, ignoring the pain in his ribs and shoulders. He rolled his eyes as Ducky began scolding him and repositioning him properly on the bed, "Honestly Anthony if I didn't know better I would think you were trying to make your stay here in the hospital longer, throwing yourself around like that."

Tony allowed Ducky to fuss over him, while he personally was trying to get himself under control for when he began his talk with Rachel. He didn't want to accidentally say more than he had to. "There you go Anthony all situated."

He smiled at Ducky and said, "Thanks Ducky I appreciate the help."

Ducky patted him on the shoulder saying, "Any time my dear boy, anytime."

Dr. Cranston pulled a chair up to the side of the bed saying, "Alright gentlemen I'll take over now. So if you could give us about two hours I would appreciate it."

Gibbs gave Tony a look that asked, 'are you gonna be ok?'

Tony swallowed and nodded, he was gonna be ok. He may not like the fact that he had to talk about all of this but he was gonna be fine. He trusted Rachel to not be too pushy and ask for more than he could give.

Seeing Tony's nod Gibbs and Ducky left the room with the promise that they would bring back some edible food for him. Once they were gone Tony turned to Dr. Cranston and said, "Let's get this over with."

Dr. Cranston just smiled and replied as she sat down, "All in due time."

Tony just rolled his eyes and got himself more comfortable on the bed. They spent a few minutes just staring each other down, finally Dr. Cranston leaned forward saying, "Tell me about your wife."

Tony remained quiet for a minute while he tried to formulate his response, finally he said, "Well we met while I was working in Peoria and we got married there and then not to long after we were married we moved to Philly where we had the girls and then I was sent on an undercover mission and it's while I was gone that they were . . . were killed." He found that his throat had suddenly gone very dry as he was talking and he could barely swallow.

Dr. Cranston handed him a glass of water which he held onto for dear life. She could tell that this was going to go one of two ways, either he was going to clam up or he was going to have a break down. She knew that was mean of her but she was kinda hoping that it would be the later of the two. She could see that he desperately needed to get this off of his chest before it all exploded on him.

"You blame yourself for their deaths don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Tony cried forcefully, "I wasn't there to protect them! I wasn't where I should have been. I was off on some stupid mission."

"But that's not your fault. You couldn't have been there as you said you were on a mission."

"That's not the point!" Yelled Tony while he mentally cursed himself for getting so worked up, why did Rachel have to go for the tender spots? He took a deep breath and said more calmly, "It was one of the people from my past who took them from me. It was because they were mad at me that they took my family away from me. So yes I consider it to be my fault because they were after me and I wasn't there to protect my family."

Dr. Cranston nodded and decided not to push that subject to hard right now. She was more than aware of Tony's ability to carry quilt unnecessarily and knew that she wasn't going to be able to convince him that it wasn't his fault at all. She smiled slightly and asked, "Why don't you tell me about your daughters?"

She was slightly taken aback at the tender smile that crossed Tonys' face as he thought about his girls. She had never seen him look so gentle and happy. She waited until Tony felt like talking and her patience paid off and soon Tony started talking with a dream like quality to his voice, "They were a lot like their mother. I mean they looked like me but their attitude was entirely from their mother. They had me wrapped around their little fingers. I just couldn't get enough of them. And boy were they smart, which is something else they got from their mom. They were the happiest kids always smiling and laughing."

"They sound a lot like you Tony."

Tony smiled slightly and said, "That's what Shay used to tell me. She would swear up and down that they were just like me but I would swear back that they were just like her. It was one of our ongoing love fights."

"Love Fights? I don't think I've ever heard of that."

"Yah well I'm not surprised it was just something that she called it one time and it just stuck. Really all it is, is good natured bickering, so we would almost always end it with an agreement to just disagree and a kiss that would usually end up in a make out session or two."

Dr. Cranston sat back and watched the dream like quality passed over Tony's face she thought about why some one would hide their most inner self from the world once they had been hurt. Tony was the classic example once his heart had been shattered he hid his soft somewhat Geeky side behind the frat boy mask so that he could not have to deal with the hurt and keep himself from getting hurt again. Thinking back she realized that Tony intentionally dated the wrong kind of women so that he wouldn't be able to make that important connection and allow himself to settle down and commit again. A whole new side of his personality just became painfully obvious. She smiled saying, "What about Shay? What was she like?"

Again that dreamlike quality came over Tony and he looked out the window, it was raining now and he couldn't help but think that it was somehow extremely appropriate that it was. He sighed heavily as he said, "She was smart, funny, kind, tough and yet extremely gentle. She loved most sports, but she also loved the more girly things too. She definitely had a feisty side and a temper, but she had a long fuse and hardly ever got angry or anything like that, it was just once you crossed that line there was no going back, but it wasn't like she stayed mad, it was more like a flash fire you know? One minute its there and the next it's gone. She would still make us sit and talk it out but she wasn't angry or upset any more."

"She sounds like a very interesting girl."

"She was the best. She was my best friend. I could tell her anything and she always knew exactly what I needed to hear and she was never afraid to tell me exactly like it was."

Tony who had been looking at Dr. Cranston turned back to look out the window; the silence in the room was slightly stifling. Rachel seemed to be thinking hard and after a few seconds she said, "Tell me about how you two met."

Tony smiled slightly as he said, "that is a good story. One I think even Ducky would appreciate."

"I am intrigued." Smiled Dr. Cranston, "Tell me about it."

"We'll you see it all started when I was just a patrol cop and I was out one day doing my job when . . . "

NCIS—NCIS—NCIS— Flash back — NCIS—NCIS—NCIS

"Holy shit did you see that car? It must have been going 90."

The man in the passenger side looked up form his book saying, "Well let's go then."

The police car put on its lights and took off after the other vehicle, finally getting it to pull over after a few miles of chasing. The cop on the passenger side slowly got out of the car and walked towards the stopped vehicle. He could see from a distance that the driver was a young woman. He approached the door and tapped on the window, motioning for the woman to roll it down. What he saw when she turned to look at him was not what he was expecting. The woman was more like a girl in the age department; she didn't look like she was more than seventeen, she had her hair pulled back in a messy sophisticated way, with dark eye liner being the only make up she wore, which contrasted with the delicate silver necklace and matching silver hoops that she was wearing. She was also dressed in a graduation gown and he could see her cap sitting on the seat next to her. He was drawn out of his assessment when the young girl began pleading with him; "Oh please officer DiNozzo," She had to pause a second to read his name, "Please let me off this one time? I'm the valid Victorian for my graduating class and I am running so late. Please, please, please let me go."

He looked her up and down a few times noting how her bright hazel eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight and how she was slightly flushed giving her a light pink tinge to her face effectively giving her a peaches and crème complexion. He could see the earnestness in her face and he wasn't sure why but he was having serious conflicting issues. He knew what he should do and then there was what he wanted to do.

NCIS—NCIS—NCIS— End Flash Back—NCIS—NCIS—NCIS

"Wait!" Cried Dr. Cranston, "You didn't seriously give her a ticket on her graduation day did you?"

Tony sighed dramatically and said, "No! I ended up giving her a warning and escorting her to the college, which by the way she got there in time for her to walk in with her class and be seated with them. So it's not like she was late walking in and making a scene."

"Oh ok. I bet that caused quite a stir."

"It did. She was so embarrassed. Everyone was talking about it."

"So did you guys start dating after that?"

"Uh no. It was a couple of months later that we met up again."

NCIS—NCIS—NCIS— Flash back — NCIS—NCIS—NCIS

Tony DiNozzo slowly and painfully made his way through the building on his crutches. He had just been released by his doctor to start physical therapy after nearly eight weeks of being non weight bearing on his right leg. He smiled at the receptionist as he made his way past the door she was holding open for him. She led him back to a screened off area and said as he sat on a chair, "Your therapist will be with you shortly."

He nodded his thanks and settled in to wait. He was used to this kind of thing and knew how long he could be waiting. To his surprise though the curtain around his cubicle was pulled back after just a few minutes and he was face to face with a very familiar person and she was smiling knowingly at him. Tony smiled hesitantly and said, "High."

The therapist smiled back and said, "High yourself. Still terrorizing the highways?"

"Ah no . . . um actually I made detective about four months ago."

"Well Detective DiNozzo," said the therapist with a slight emphasis on his name, "I just wanted to tell you that you caused quite a stir when you escorted me into my graduation. All the other students couldn't stop talking about it."

Tony blushed slightly and with a hint of sarcasm said, "Just doing my job ma'am."

The therapist smiled with a slightly evil smile, causing Tony to wince slightly as she said, "Well looks like I'll be able to return the favor."

Tony knew then that he was in for a healthy dose of pay back.

NCIS—NCIS—NCIS— End Flash Back—NCIS—NCIS—NCIS

"So you started dating then?"

"Well kinda, you see I had about a month of physical therapy four times a week and after that first time she called us even and we started to talk and just like that we were friends. We couldn't technically date because I was a patient of hers, so once I was done with my last physical therapy session and she had discharged me she asked me to have dinner with her and her family as friends. Of course by then I couldn't refuse her anything, so I said sure. I mean she knew about my family or lack thereof, and she knew that I would be uncomfortable so she did her best and kept it all really light and I ended up having a great time and at the end of the night she asked me out on a date. At first I was hesitant because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I wasn't any better at relationships then as I am now. But she told me that she wanted to try and if it didn't work out then it didn't work out and we could still be friends."

Dr. Cranston sat back in her chair with an amused smile on her face and after a minute of silence said, "I can't get over the fact that she ended up being your physical therapist. I can honestly say I wish I could have met the woman who caught Anthony DiNozzo."

Tony looked appropriately indignant as he cried out in mock annoyance, "Hey! I wasn't always a ladies man. I mean I dated but nothing like I have these last few years, and if you must know I was kind of a nerd."

Dr. Cranston laughed and said, "Oh Tony I don't think you could ever be considered a nerd."

Tony shook his head saying, "You don't know what your talking about Rachel, I was as my friends called me a nerd in Jocks clothing. I used to get teased a lot about my grades. I would even get some bad grades on purpose just so I wouldn't stand out as much."

Dr. Cranston nodded saying, "That actually makes sense Tony, and it explains a lot about you. In fact this whole situation has opened up a new side to you and I must say I am impressed. I mean I always knew that there was more to you than meets the eye I just never guessed that it was so much."

"What can I say," replied Tony with a shrug, "I am a multifaceted puzzle."

Dr. Cranston sat back in her chair and after watching silently for a few minutes asked, "What did you do after they died? How did you grieve?"

Tony sighed and said softly, "At first I was too numb to do anything and then after about a month of being numb it was like I was overly sensitive, everything was in over drive my hearing, my taste, my sense of touch, my vision, even smells were overbearing. I couldn't cope so I started drinking and going out. I was drunk most of the time and when I wasn't drunk I was to hung- over to notice and of course I wasn't eating and not sleeping. My squadron finally pulled an intervention type thing and slipped a sedative into my coffee. Was out for three days, I was so sleep deprived, when I did finally come too they sat me down and told me how it was. After that little incident I put on my best face I went back to work, I got sober, haven't had more than two drinks at a time since then, couldn't eat too much or too often at first but eventually my appetite came back. I never was able to sleep the same way again."

Dr. Cranston sighed heavily and asked, "Did you ever cry or talk to someone about all of it?"

Tony just looked at her and said, "No." short and simple, to the point and quite obviously the end of that question. Dr. Cranston sighed and said, "Tell me about what you saw when you were hallucinating."

Tony had gone back to looking out the window and watching the rain. He sighed heavily and said, "I just . . . I just saw her. Like I do in my dreams. She was perfect and whole and so gorgeous. I just couldn't help it. I mean I knew it wasn't real, I knew even then that she was dead and that there was no way she could really be there but it's just one of those things that you wish so hard for and I just couldn't stop my self form calling out to her, also just like in my dreams the more I try to get to her the faster she disappears and just like in my dreams even though I know the out come I still try, every damn time I try, just in case this that time I make it. Just in case maybe this time is the time I actually get to hold her again."

Dr. Cranston couldn't stop the tear that slid down her cheek at his heart-felt confession. She looked down at her watch as a way to hide her obvious emotional display, and noticed that their two hours were over by fifteen minutes. She smirked slightly and wondered what was keeping Gibbs from barging in on them. She looked up with a smile and said, "Well you have lucked out and my time is up. I think it safe to release you."

Tony smiled a sad smile saying, "So I'm not crazy after all?"

Dr. Cranston shook her head and said, "No. No Tony you're not crazy. You're just a man who is still grieving the loss of his family."

Tony nodded silently and then said, "I don't think I will ever get over it."

Dr. Cranston shrugged and said, "For some people they never do. But remember Tony you have a different kind of family now that can maybe help ease the burden."

With that Dr. Cranston stooped and picked up her bag saying, "I want to see you twice a week for the next month."

Tony's eyes bulged and he was beginning to protest when Dr. Cranston cut him off and saying, "No worries I'll set it up with Ducky and Gibbs and I will be coming to you so you don't have to worry about having to come to my office." She turned and walked out the door saying, "See you in three days Tony."

Out in the hall she stopped when she ran into Gibbs and Ducky. She smiled as she said, "He's good to go, but I want to see him twice a week for the next month, I'll be calling to arrange it all. Will that work for you?"

Gibbs looked at Ducky and then back to Dr. Cranston and shrugging said, "As long as you know what you're getting into Doc its ok by me."

"Oh believe me Agent Gibbs I know exactly what to expect." Replied Dr. Cranston with a slightly evil looking grin as she walked away.

As the two men watched her walk away Gibbs said to Ducky, "I don't envy DiNozzo right now."

Much to Gibbs's surprise Ducky shook his head in agreement and said, "Nor do I Jethro, Nor do I."

Both men looked at each other again before heading into the hospital room to find Tony so upset that Gibbs was sure he saw smoke coming out of his ears.

NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS

Some where in the FBI building;

"Special Agent Ron Sacks. Wait! — What? —No do not do that! — Please just listen to me. —Look I know how hard this is, but— No really you have to understand that if you do this now everything we have worked for will be in jeopardy. — Please just give me a few more days to get this all figured out ok? —Thank you. — I know. I will get back to you as soon as I can. —Be safe and don't take any chances."

Agent Sacks sighed as he hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. He could already tell that this was going to be a busy couple of days. He knew he needed help and he knew just the man to call.

He picked up his phone again and dialed. After waiting a few minutes a voice on the other end answered, "Hello?"

Taking a deep breath Sacks spoke quietly into the receiver, "Hollywood is making a break for it."

Hey everyone I just wanted to say thank you to all who reviewed and faved my story I really appreciate the support. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always please R&R, it makes me so very happy when you do. :D